Double Trouble 64

A/N: Hello, lovely patient readers! Happy Easter if you celebrate, or happy weekend otherwise. So sorry for the long wait! I've been having trouble motivating myself to write for a while, especially since I'm finding OUAT rather uninspiring overall these days. I've got some of the next chapter done so I'll try to kick that one out soon too. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

For those interested, my trip to the UK was awesome and meeting S was even more wonderful.

Chapter 64 'In for a Penny'

"Mom Mom Mom!" Henry came running to them with tears falling down his face.

Em's head whipped around but it was Regina who the boy ran to, throwing his arms around his mother as he crashed into her middle. This Henry was much shorter than he was now. She could hardly believe how little he'd been when she'd first met her son. He'd grown up without her. Regina captured him and began comforting him straight away.

For some strange reason they were in the middle platform of a train station and it was completely empty apart from the three of them. It was cold and windy from the trains that flew through the station without stopping.

The two Millses hadn't noticed her yet.

"Mom, help me!" Henry cried in distress.

"Are you hurt?" said Regina urgently, stroking his dark hair back. "What is it?"

"Look!"

Henry held up his hand to the light where it streamed through the near-invisible skin. The ends of his fingers were almost completely gone and the rest of his hand was see-through up to his wrist. Dread sank like shot in Em's stomach and she felt sickened by the sight.

"Oh god!" Em heard her own voice say. The outburst drew looks from the other two. "He's disappearing. We changed the past and it's starting to affect the future."

"Henry, don't worry," Regina said softly, eyes filling with tears as she cupped his frightened little face. "Remember, Good always wins, just like your book says. Your mother will fix this because she's the Saviour."

"Me?!" yelled Em out of panic. "I don't know what's happening! Regina, you were the Evil Queen. You're the one with magic. Use it to do something good for once in your life."

The hem of her black coat snapped in the wind as Regina stood in one quick motion. She grabbed the collars of Em's leather jacket and brought their faces close together so that she could hiss fiercely. "Henry is going to disappear off the face of the Earth and you want to fight about who's good and who's not?! DO something, Emma!"

"Emma," pleaded Henry. "I don't want you to be my Mom. I already have a Mom. Let me go."

The two women watched as Henry faded into thin air before their eyes. Em felt sure it was her fault and expected to see pure hatred from the murderous sorceress beside her.

"I will never forgive you for this, Em. Give him to me! He's mine."

But the voice came from Ri who stood next to her now instead of Regina. Her slight figure was draped by an elaborate white gown with a long train and a gold crown pinned tightly into her hair in a way that looked painful. It was not Ri's dress, the one she'd made herself with care and hope, so it was not the one she ought to have worn for her wedding.

A skeletal hand crawled across Ri's throat taking possession of the innocent flesh. It belonged to a darkened figure whose identity Em couldn't make out no matter how hard she tried. Ri struggled to breathe as the grip grew tighter pulling her back with it into the shadows but the young queen endured it without a protest or scream.

And then she disappeared too, leaving Em alone.

But she wasn't alone. There was a tiny baby in her arms, naked and wrapped in a white knitted blanket with a purple ribbon threaded through it. The baby mewled.

Nothing made sense and time seemed to speed up. The platform beneath her feet was gone. Em looked down at her shoes and saw rails and sleepers instead. She was on the tracks. The screech of wheels and a blaring horn hurt her ears. The baby in her arms slept on unknowing. When she looked up again there was a train heading right for her-

Em woke gasping for breath.

It took her a few seconds to realise where she was. She was safe in the spare bedroom at Mary Margaret's apartment. There was no train station. There was no train. There was no baby. It was just a dream. Both she and the bedclothes were soaked with sweat and tears.

"Ri?" she panted, but there was no answer. The other side of the bed was cold.

Ri wasn't there. She must've gotten up early as she was wont to do. Em wished desperately for the loving reassurance of her arms and the warmth of her body. They'd had a tiff last night so she understood Ri's choice to put distance between them this morning but it made her want her even more.

There was a sick feeling inside her and the only words that came close to describing it was as a longing to go home. The problem was she didn't have a home and had never had one in fact.

In her half-awakened state Em's mind wasn't certain that the dream hadn't been real. The fear certainly was. Her eyelids closed again as tiredness took over and her last conscious thought was to hope not to return to the same place as in the dream. The exhausted teen fell back to sleep.

108 Mifflin St

The potion hadn't worked. Emma could tell Regina was about five seconds from starting to freak out. Obviously she'd put two and two together and concluded that they weren't soulmates after all, but that wasn't what was causing her to panic.

Emma knew exactly what the other woman was afraid of - they had tried to activate the potion on the assumption that they were True Lovers and failed. Gold had warned them that if they weren't actually soulmates then their son could die or be retconned out of existence because he was the "product of their love". Who knew whether the imp was even telling them the truth. What would happen to Henry now? Maybe the damage had already been done.

Emma let her instincts reach out across the town searching for his location. A quick response pinged her internal GPS.

"Wait!" She grabbed the brunette's arm before she could run or poof away into a cloud of purple smoke.

"Let go!" hissed Regina. "Take your hands off me right now or so help me, I'll kill you for this. You convinced me everything was going to be fine and it's not. Henry!"

"Don't shut me out," Emma said hastily. "I know you're freaking out but just don't freak out ok. Listen-"

"No. I've had enough of listening to your baseless assurances."

There was that skittish look that Emma knew well. Regina was about to teleport magically. She encircled her with a pair of strong arms and held her tight from behind to prevent it. Somewhere in the depth of her mind Emma realised how stupid it was to try to restrain the woman who'd once been a powerful evil sorceress. It was about as advisable as mishandling a live grenade. Her own magic protected her for the moment, but the second she let go all of the wrath of the Evil Queen would be directed at her.

"Let me go!" ordered a struggling Regina. "You're blocking my magic. I need to go to my son."

"He's my son too-"

"Not for much longer. Maybe he's already gone and disappeared off the face of the Earth. Or maybe he was never born-"

"No, it's ok! Listen to me," Emma pleaded. "I feel him. I can always find Henry, or anyone, with magic. I know he's still here in Storybrooke..."

There was a second where Regina paused in her struggles making Emma think that she was getting through to her. She lowered her guard enough for the former queen's magic to break through. If she hadn't still been holding on, Emma was sure that Regina would've poofed away and left her behind. Instead she got pulled along for the ride. The two of them disappeared in a cloud of violet purple smoke.

Storybrooke General Hospital

Cardiovascular ward, private room

An elderly woman lay still and quiet in the bed asleep. Lucy Gander's snow-white feathery hair rested beneath her head on the pillow instead of in its usual severe bun. She was hardly recognisable without the even more severe expression that usually pinched her face as well.

It was too early for visiting hours. The ward was only beginning to rouse to life for breakfast rounds. The Blue Fairy (also known as the Mother Superior) was not an uncommon presence in the hospital corridors at odd hours. Often she was there to provide chaplaincy and spiritual support to ailing patients or grieving relatives, so she passed through unquestioned by the staff.

Upon entering the room the Blue Fairy noted the heart monitors that her old friend was hooked up to and started to pray.

"Pssst. Blue?"

The nun looked up to see one of her former initiates standing in the doorway gesturing for her. It was Astrid, wearing a black t-shirt with some pink-haired woman on it and those skin-tight type of jeans that the youth wore today. There was a fluro pink clipboard with a diamond clasp in her hands.

The Blue Fairy went over so they could converse softly without disturbing anyone. "Yes, Pink, what is it?"

Astrid glanced at the patient's bed and then apologised for intruding. "It's my first time receiving one of these and I'm not sure what to do..."

"Are you going to explain? Sometime before the Second Coming preferably."

"Yes, sorry!" squeaked Astrid. When she went to hand over the lurid clipboard she fumbled it with a clatter which sent her into another round of hushed apologies.

The Blue Fairy pursed her lips from displeasure. She didn't have the time nor the patience for the clumsy girl today. But as soon as she read the details of the clipboard's top sheet (once it eventually made it into her hands safely), she was glad that Astrid had the foresight to check with her first.

"This is a Wish Requisition Form," said Blue. "It was logged early this morning by one of your Patron Family members. If you've completed your training modules you should know what to do next."

"Well, yes," Astrid hedged. "But did you see who made it?"

"I did."

Blue had seen thousands of wishes granted and denied during her time, and the requests spanned the gamut from the ill-advised to the outright bizarre. After young Henry Mills's wish for himself to be born she thought she'd never see a more unique request during her tenure. But this newest one rivalled that apparent paradox. It made perfect sense given what was known about the history (and future?) of Storybrooke, and furthermore, it would rid the town of a potential threat.

"Grant the wish." Blue instructed the young Fairy before handing back the paperwork.

Astrid's dark-lined eyes widened. "But don't you think we should warn the Royals?"

"Confidentiality prohibits it."

"But, I mean, it wasn't even her that made the wish. Not really. And given the location it may have been under duress-"

"The Need Specification section has been explained in full and in my opinion the case for needing a wish has been adequately made. As far as I am aware this is well within the limits of your power. I see no reason to overturn."

"But-!"

The Blue Fairy sighed. Gone were the days when young Fairies barely old enough for training wings were too awed to question her authority. Astrid would have to learn her place - and that of all Fairies - in the general hierarchy of things. They were only supposed to guide, not get too involved in the course of mortal history. Of course that had not stopped Blue from intervening last time the safety of the Royal line had been in danger though. She'd done her duty by ensuring that the baby girl would escape the curse. It was time to intervene again. The Royals would be kept in the dark, they didn't need to know the truth then and they didn't need to know it now.

Blue knew it would be easy to convince the younger fairy to see what needed to be done. "Pink, you have an obligation to fulfill and the consequences of refusal are dire. It could cost you your life - or worse - your career. You're a Fairy Godmother now, this is what you wanted remember?"

"Yes! It was - it is - what I want," Astrid's earnest desire to please was evident. "More than anything I want to help people. But-"

"Then you know what you have to do. Send her home. Or I will."

Storybrooke Elementary

A plume of purple smoke appeared out of nowhere beside the school's front gate. Some of the adults and children nearby yelped in fright at the unfamiliar sight of magic. Despite originating from an enchanted land, few ordinary citizens had actually witnessed magic being performed and even when they did it usually boded ill for them. They stared. No doubt waiting to see if their lives were in danger or not.

As the smoke dissipated a blonde woman in a red leather jacket tumbled to the ground. "Ow, fuck, my knee! I need that."

One of the littlest kids pointed. "Mommy, is she a good witch or a bad witch?"

The toddler's mother quickly grabbed his hand and whisked him away. Several of the parents in the vicinity made noises of shock and disgust, apparently more due to the offensive language than the display of sorcery. They shielded their children's ears and herded them like sheep through the gates towards the playground.

"Can you act with decorum for once in your life, Sheriff!" hissed the Mayor. "You're scaring the peasants."

"Me?!" Emma growled back sotto voice. She noted the stares she was attracting and then jumped to her feet, brushing the grass off her denim-clad butt. "You're the one doing dark magic in front of them. And by the way, Madam Mayor, they're voters not peasants. If you'd listened to me for five seconds-"

"It would be five seconds too many."

"-you could've used your Magic Mirror to show us that Henry was safe without us having to leave the damn house. Or are you not allowed to use it for your own good?"

Regina glared, not liking having that pointed out to her. "You can finish making friends with the ground if you like but I'm going to go find my son. I want to see him with my own eyes. If he's gone from existence you'd better be prepared to follow suit."

"I told you, he's not gone! I can feel him over there-"

As soon as the brunette stalked off ahead Emma rolled her eyes, clenched her fists and kicked at the air. Sometimes - often - Regina could be utterly infuriating.

When they found their eleven-year-old son he was waving happily to Miss Blanchard, who had apparently just arrived herself and was rushing into work. The schoolteacher ruffled his hair on her way and told him not to be late for the bell which was just about to ring.

The Mayor and the Sheriff ran the last few steps, both relieved to see their son alive. They checked him visibly for any signs of non-existence but he seemed perfectly intact and unharmed as though nothing were amiss.

Regina called out. "Henry!"

"Hey, Moms," said Henry, giving his mothers a surprised smile. "What are you guys doing here?"

"You ok, kid?" asked Emma, examining him closely.

"Sure. Why?"

"We just-" Regina smiled brightly and tried to be nonchalant. "Wanted to make sure."

When the boy furrowed his brow Emma realised she had to throw off the suspicion. She patted him on the shoulder, unable to resist her need to make sure he was solid and not some kind of apparition. "We forgot to tell you to have a good day at school. So have a good day and er- … do your best ok."

"Don't do any magic," Regina blurted out.

"You're being weird, Moms." Henry narrowed his eyes and looked from one to the other. "What's going on? Did something happen with the potion?"

"We are not weird," Regina chastised, brushing his other shoulder of a piece of lint. "We're your parents. Sweetie, where's your scarf? It's cold out."

"Mom, I'm fine. I gotta go soon."

Luckily the school bell rang and the kids began filing inside in a semi-orderly manner. Henry managed to extricate himself from their mothering and questions by saying that he didn't want to be late for class. He hugged them both at once and then scampered off to be swallowed into a sea of children all dressed similarly in their school uniforms.

Most of the parents, having now dropped off their kids, were returning to the gleaming parade of silver and black SUVs so they could get on with their days at work or at home. By the looks of it a few parents recognised the Mayor or the Sheriff or both but didn't give them a second glance. The chaos of the school run would soon be over only minutes after it began.

"So..." Emma hooked her thumbs into her pockets and swayed her hip. She raised an eyebrow as if to imply what she really wanted to say was, 'I told you so'.

Regina's response was a single stiff nod. "Henry's fine."

"Just like I said he would be."

"Yes. For now."

"I'll give you a hint," Emma grinned. "The words are: 'Sorry for freaking out on you, Emma. I should have trusted your awesome magical powers.'"

"'Awesome', seriously?!" said Regina, accusation obvious in her outburst. "You are the most frustrating person I've ever met! You have god-knows how much power inside of you and you don't use it. You have some sort of magic but you won't study the craft or learn how to direct it properly. You still haven't done anything about the border and it's nearly on our doorstep. You're the laziest Saviour in history!"

After an uncomfortable pause Emma exhaled. "Wow. Harsh much?"

Regina sighed and softened her expression. "Sorry. I'm - ... I didn't mean that."

"It's ok if you did."

Emma stepped towards her with a slight smile, forgiveness at the ready before the apology was even made. Regina had been making a concerted effort to avoid taking out her worst tendencies on those she loved lately. The impending doom facing the town meant that there was little room for letting pettiness linger. She was trying. It made Emma feel more than a twinge of guilt and resolved to harder herself.

"I don't want to kill you either," Regina added, her voice dropped to that gravelly tone of vulnerability that Emma had heard only a few times.

"I know. Sorry I'm a crap saviour."

"You have your moments. Eventually."

Emma let her eyes drop for a second and gave the hem of Regina's waistcoat a tug with her fingers. "Are we friends again?"

Regina laughed low in her throat. "Friends? Dear, you and I have never been just friends."

"Not judging by the way you look at me all the time. I've seen you checking me out since we first met."

"That wasn't not love in my eyes, it was murder."

"I don't believe you," Emma teased, and Regina leaned in closer towards their lips meeting. For ten seconds they forgot their problems and shared a nice but fairly chaste kiss at the school gates.

"I need more time," Emma whispered when she drew back a little. "I know you've changed and it's hard to be patient while waiting for me to get my act together. You're the only one who's never abandoned me. I need you to trust me."

Regina frowned and tried to read what the stormy blue-green eyes bare inches away were saying, what they pleaded with her to understand.

Before she could ask or demand the truth a shrill voice interrupted the moment

"EXCUSE ME. What are you doing?"

"What kind of behaviour is that around a school? There are innocent children around."

Emma turned with 'what-the-fuck?' on her lips, stunned by the tone as much as by the complaint. A prune-faced middle-aged women with feathery brown hair stood behind her glaring with all her might, and she was also attempting to cover the eyes and ears of her grumpy-looking child who appeared to be younger than school-age. Emma was loathe to give her any attention at all but she would grit her teeth and do her civic duty.

The Sheriff tried not to be sarcastic at first. "Can I help you? Sorry for swearing in front of the kids earlier, but they've probably heard worse in the playground or on MTV anyway."

"My children do not watch that sort of trash," the woman hissed and shot Regina a look. "I was referring to what you were doing just now."

"What. Kissing my wife?"

"Sheriff," Regina broke in hastily. "This is Henrietta Penny, president of Storybrooke Elementary's Parent and Teacher Organisation, and formerly one of the founding partners of Penny Little and Associates."

Emma realised that as a mother of a child at the school and a public figure in the town Regina must know who this woman ex-lawyer was. There seemed to be no love lost between the two judging by their body language, though she would never put money on anyone who tried to oppose the formidable Mayor. With the election looming, Regina was now making an effort to be more diplomatic (that is, less terrifying) towards the locals however stupid they might be.

"Mrs Penny," Regina began. "Allow me to introduce Sheriff Emma Swan. I'm sure you recall attending the election in which she won the popular vote despite not being my preferred candidate."

"A sham election," sniffed Mrs Penny. "The Office of the Sheriff is evidently back under your control, Mayor Mills. Nothing has changed there. I see your taste for a man in uniform runs wilder than I thought. No wonder you escaped incarceration after the curse broke."

Emma smirked. "Casting curses isn't exactly against the law in this country. Otherwise I'd have thrown her in a cell for punishment."

Penny's eyes bugged at the innuendo but kept her focus on an unfazed Regina. "The corruption at Town Hall must end! I assure you the polls will not be kind to you in the Mayoral election. Now that everybody remembers who you are you'll have a job convincing the people you cursed to vote for you."

Regina gave her a winning politician's smile. "I do love a challenge."

"The entire PTO including Principal Gander is against you. We demand that Storybrooke have a Mayor with strong moral values who will stand up for the rights of families in our community."

Before Regina could begin the spiel she'd crafted with Kathryn to counter this very campaign issue and defend the idea that she was in fact a family-oriented candidate, Emma did it for her.

"Mayor Mills understands the needs of Storybrooke families because she has her own family here," said Emma. "Our eleven-year-old son Henry is a student at this school. He's a good kid and we want the best for him. The safety of Storybrooke is our top priority."

"Two women raising a child together is not the kind of family I believe in."

"Then it's a good thing no-one asked for your shitty homophobic opinion," said Emma, cold as ice.

"That's not what I-!" Mrs Penny cut her protest off and changed tack, ignoring the toddler tugging on her arm with increasingly loud pleas for attention. "I have no problem with gay people and that kind of lifestyle, but it isn't appropriate to have that sort of thing in a family environment like this. I don't want those ideas pushed on my children."

Emma gritted her teeth but it was no good. She was royally pissed now.

Two things happened at once then - the first was that the tyres on the nearest SUV ruptured simultaneously with a bang and a hiss, and the second was that Penny's child launched into a full-scale tantrum with screaming and tears. The shrill woman was torn between disciplining her child and shock at the sudden damage to her car.

"My car!" wailed Mrs Penny. Her child wailed louder in competition. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Oh is that your car?" said the Sheriff, all politeness. "In that case I'm going to have to book you."

"For what? The tyres blew by themselves!"

Emma took her cell phone out and snapped a pic of the vehicle. "Nope. You're parked the wrong way. I'm writing you a ticket for 'Parking contrary to the orderly flow of traffic'. Expect a fine in the mail and another if you delay any longer in organising a tow. I suggest Michael's Garage. Have a nice day."

And with that the Sheriff pocketed her phone again, ignored the flabbergasted Mrs Penny, and turned and walked away. The gold badge pinned to her chest was highly visible and for once Emma didn't even feel like a shit for abusing her authority. Now that the former orphan finally had a family of her own after years of being alone it was grating to have someone invalidate the love and support that meant everything to her.

Whether Penny was ignorant or mean-spirited or both was hard to tell. She and Gander's other cronies were clearly biased against the Mayor anyway so it's not like it was risking any votes in the upcoming election. Emma was sick of people getting away with being able to spout their ridiculous opinions without a care in the world for who got hurt by them.

The tyre thing was a bit immature yes, but it was something her teenage self, Em, might've done and that thought made Emma glow inside with rekindled mischief.

Regina caught up with her after a few steps. "Emma!" she hissed. "That was magic. Your magic. And it wasn't an accidental manifestation of your powers. You did that deliberately."

"So what if I did?"

"It wasn't exactly heroic of you, Saviour." Regina lifted an eyebrow. "You've yet to save the town but you would use your powers for childish pranks? I'm sure Penny is hardly the first time you've had to deal with such nonsense."

"Exactly. I don't have time to deal with that now. The town's going to hell and they don't know how much danger you're in. It's my job to make sure you make it to that election alive. I'll do what I have to do."

"Which is what. There are only two days before the potion expires, if the border lasts that long. But it's useless because True Love's kiss didn't work for us and we can't activate the potion without it. What exactly is your plan? If you even have one."

Emma nodded and smiled to herself, "We need to try it again. This time with a bit more oomph."